Kuvée Smart Wine Bottle Keeps Wine Fresh

Wine lovers, meet your new favorite gadget. Boston-based start-up Kuvée has just launched the world's first smart wine bottle. Add it to the list of "smart devices you didn't know you needed."

The Wi-Fi-connected bottle lets wine drinkers rate their wine, learn more about it and order more if so desired, all via touch screen. The bottle also provides food-pairing tips and recommendations based on personal preferences.

In addition to the Wi-Fi-enabled features, the bottle is supposed to keep wine fresh for 30 days after opening. You no longer need to look for creative ways to use up leftover wine or resist opening a new bottle you may not finish. As Kuvée's website says, "You want red, but he wants white. Don't compromise. Go ahead, open both."

So how does this smart contraption work? You slip a canister of wine into the Kuvée smart bottle, and the case reads details from the given wine. So the catch here, for now anyway, is that you can use only the wines that come in the Kuvée-fitted canisters. So far, the company has partnered with 48 vineyards, which include well-known California-based winemakers like Bonny Doon and Pine Ridge.

People are calling it "ridiculous" and a "complete waste of cash." Munchies calls it the wine bottle "no one asked for." But we'll never argue with fresh wine.

According to The Drinks Business, master sommelier R. Michael Meagher calls the bottle a "game changer." He tried the bottle out with 20 different wines and was "amazed at how consistent the quality and freshness of each wine was over several days, weeks and even over a month."

You can preorder the smart bottle and a four-wine starter pack on Kuvée's website for $199; shipments are planned to start in October.